Nineteen indicted, including Erdoğan guards, over brawl during Turkish leader's U.S. visit

Sandy Schultz

Fifteen of the people for whom the D.C. grand jury returned indictments are Turkish security officials who allegedly assaulted protesters who demonstrated against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during and after his visit to the White House in May.

Nine people were hospitalised and two members of the Turkish leader's security detail initially arrested in the brutal altercation with Kurds, Yazidis and Armenians protesting Mr Erdogan's human rights record and Syria policy.

Two of the attackers were arrested in June and are set for a September 7 initial hearing.

Newsham called on the suspects to turn themselves in, but Erdogan's team had already returned to Turkey and it remains unclear if they will return to the U.S.to answer the charges. "The Turkish-Americans responded in self-defence and one of them was seriously injured".

"All 19 defendants were indicted on a charge of conspiracy to commit a crime of violence, with a bias crime enhancement", the District of Columbia Attorney's Office said in a statement, Reuters reports. The rest of the defendants are still at large.

Despite the indictments, it is unlikely that most of the defendants will face actual jail time. The head of the president's security detail stepped in, followed by Turkish citizens who were there to see their president.

The indictments, announced on Tuesday, charge the defendants with attacking peaceful demonstrators who were protesting against the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 17. "For far too long, the USA has succumbed to Erdogan's intimidation tactics, remaining complicit in Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide; refusing to clearly condemn the growing repression against the Kurdish community; and turning a blind eye to the crackdown on free speech within their own borders. Our reaction to the topic has also been conveyed to the USA ambassador to Ankara", the Turkish foreign ministry statement said.

"Why would I bring my guards with me to the United States, if not to protect me?" he said in a speech in Ankara, in which he vowed to fight the charges "politically and judicially". ".indictment. -.aug.29, .2017.pdf" target="_blank">indictment also recognized that the attackers "significantly outnumbered" the anti-Erdogan protesters and "blatantly ignored American law enforcement commands to cease the violence".

Guards for Erdogan attacked protesters near the embassy in a brawl that was caught on video.

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